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Diane's DiaryOct 15 Mon Janice from Plenum & I took our dinghy into Plaza Major for some food shopping. I went to the bakery & brought the Maremares staff some cookies for helping us out. We dropped off the cookies & gas tank back at Maremares. Oh, the supermarket was out of a lot of things. They didn't have any eggs at all. I guess with the march against Chavez last Thursday they didn't get a food delivery. They also had no lomito at all & we really wanted some. It is much better than filet mignon back home. The meat just melts in your mouth. I think I may have to go back again to get the last of the food right before we leave as they were out of so many supplies. Anyway, the engine was still smoking a lot of gas so Larry threw all the old gas away. With gas at about .15 gallon it was cheap enough to throw it out! Now the engine seems to be running better. After we got back from the supermarket, I cleaned & defrosted the refrigerator & freezer. I like to start all passages with the freezer fully defrosted. We went to the potluck bar-b-que tonight. There were a lot more cruisers this week. They are all coming back from the islands before they head to Trinidad. Oct 16 Tuesday I cleaned the bathroom & the boat. We jerry jugged some diesel & gas. First you need to get a slip to get the diesel, and then you get it from the gas station. We think the attendant overcharged us by about .50USD, as you cannot see the pumps while the dinghy is in the water. However, fuel is still cheap. I figured the diesel was about .15 gallon & gas around the same price. Sure can't beat those prices in the US! We got around 22 gallons of diesel & 5 gallons for gas for around $4USD. We haven't seen those prices in the US in a long time! Anyway, we spent the afternoon putting away the Avon dinghy. We would sell it down here but we would hardly get anything for it. So, it's better to just keep it as a backup along with the 5HP & sell it when we get back to the US next year. I took a quick swim & late afternoon shower. At 5pm, we left to go to dinner & the movies with 3 other couples- Escapade, Pipe Dream & Plenum. We shared a taxi, went to the movies & dinner, had popcorn & soda at the movies & the whole evening cost around $20USD for the BOTH of us. I can't remember when things were that cheap at home! We saw a recent American movie also - it had Spanish subtitles. The movie seats were like airline seats except they didn't recline & were much plusher. We saw "Road to Perdition" & if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. The movie was very violent but extremely well done. When we come back to PLC, we will have to make this a weekly event. It was nice getting out & going to the movies. I know I certainly enjoyed the evening out. Anyway, we also got the bottom of the boat cleaned for $25USD - a little expensive but the bottom was really bad as we have been in the marina for 3 months now. We also decided to get new foam for the rest of our cushions. The price for all the cushions was $200USD. We don't know the last time they were done as we have only owned Destiny for 4 years but we know they had been redone within the last 10 years or so. Regardless, we sit on them every day so they really needed to be redone. Orient Canvas did an excellent job with the other cushions so we got them to just do these. Naturally as we were trying to get ready to go to the movies, both the canvas & bottom cleaner came at the same time. Oct 16 Wed We got some more fuel in the AM as we only had about 3/4 tank when we filled it up yesterday. In case the political situation gets bad while we are in the islands & we have to suddenly leave for Trinidad, I wanted a full tank of fuel to make sure we had enough to get us to Trinidad. We know it will be a complete motor sail back to Trinidad against wind & current. It will not be a fun trip & I am not looking forward to that one at all. I also cleaned the kitchen, filled all the water jugs (we carry 11 gallons in 2 jerry jugs plus I filled 26 two liter soda bottles, & 3 gallon jugs) it's amazing how much water we drink plus making ice tea & crystal light. When it's so hot like this, you have to make sure you are keeping fully hydrated. It's very easy to get dehydrated. Many times I have gotten a headache & I know it was from being dehydrated so I make sure I have lots of water. I also vacuumed the boat & did some general cleaning while I have access to water & electric. We got our cushions back today & you can really tell the difference from the ones we even just got fixed several weeks ago so I am glad we did it. We would like to leave tomorrow but aren't quite ready so I think we will have to stay another day. Also, I would like to go to the Maremares free cocktail hour. They have great appetizers & we have had a good time in the past. It's hard going at night since you have to dinghy through the canals in the dark on the return trip but on a Wednesday night the only people in the canals then are the cruisers returning from the party so you really don't have to worry about other boats. Oct 17 Thursday Well, we are doing our best to get ready to leave in the am. It really is very hard to cut that umbilical cord to the dock. We were busy the entire day & didn't even get a chance to sit down & relax. I went to pay the marina bill. I also went food shopping again with Janice. The supermarket was very crowded but at least they seemed to have stocked up now. I was able to get some really nice lomito. We got 3 lomito meals plus around 2 lbs of chop meat for around $10USD. It was cheaper this way as I bought the entire lomito & they cut it up any way you want it. We folded & tied down the old dinghy, took down the awning, filled the water tanks (I will fill them up again in the morning). I bought chicken cutlets so I fried them up. They make a mess with cooking & cleaning them up so I wanted to do it while I had unlimited access to water. I also vacuum sealed all the food I got. Since we are going to be out in the islands for a while, I wanted the freezer stocked as much as I could. Vacuum sealing the food makes more room in the freezer & the food does not get freezer burn. However, the sealer uses a lot of electric- 8 amps! So, I only use it when we are at a marina since I don't have to worry about electrical usage. Anyway, we were both so tired we didn't get a chance to take a shower. We also didn't get a chance to take down the AC. I was just as glad about that as I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in this hot marina with no wind & no AC. We are just going to get up early & take the AC down then. Oct 18 Fri We got up around 5:30am & want to get started ASAP. We took the AC down & it actually wasn't that bad. Larry had made room for it to go into the aft cabin but it wouldn't fit through the door. If we took the door down, it would have fit but since we are going to use it within the next 2 months I told him just to leave it on the settee. Not great but it will have to do. I stored everything below & Larry worked on getting everything ready topsides. We sat down around 7am to have a quick breakfast. Then, we went off to the showers. When we came back, Larry disconnected the electric & I filled the water tanks to the brim. Plenum helped us cast off our lines & we left the dock at 8:20. Since we are only going 45 miles to meet Mima & S/V Survival in Laguna Grande it shouldn't be a problem except we know the wind picks up in the early afternoon & we will be going directly into the wind, seas & current. We had very light winds & a beautiful trip until around 2pm when we were off Cumana when the winds suddenly picked up from the east- naturally- the direction we were heading too! The wind picked up to almost 25 knots & we had a very uncomfortable ride. Mima called us & asked where we were. When we told her, she said hug the north coast as the wind & waves were less on this side so that is exactly what we did. The ride did get smoother but it wasn't great. Luckily, it only took us 3 hours from this point to Laguna Grande & because we were in the Gulf the waves weren't too bad. We arrived at the entrance to Laguna Grande about 5pm & it took us about 1/2 hour to work our way into where Mima & Survival were anchored. We were both tired from the last day's work but glad to be here. It was a beautiful anchorage with fantastic holding in mud surrounded by red mountains. It's a nice spot to just sit & relax. Mima picked us up in their dinghy after we got settled & invited us over for dinner. That was really nice as I was too tired to cook. I finally got Larry to leave around 9pm. He was having a good time but I was so tired I was falling asleep. Oct 19 Sat We will have Mima & Survival over for dinner this evening so I made a dessert of English Matrimonials from my favorite Annapolis cookbook. It was hot already with little wind so I wanted to make them before it got too hot on the boat. I am going to make chicken cutlets from the ones I fried up the other day, in a mushroom & wine sauce over rice. We put up some of the canvas to shelter us from the fierce sun. We took a dinghy ride & saw a boat we knew- S/V Picasso from when we were in Trinidad. They invited us for a drink & we stayed for 2 rounds. We had to hurry back to the boat to take quick showers before our company came! I think everyone had a good time & lots of rum was consumed. Fortunately, we have lots of rum onboard! Oct 20 Sun We both woke up around 6am but I had a slight migraine headache this morning. We were supposed to go walking up the mountain with Steph & Dave but didn't go. As it turns out, it was for the best. We were both sleeping around 8am when I heard something outside. I stuck my head out the hatch & Judy was calling Tom. She saw me with my head out the hatch & asked me to go to the radio. Tom had the generator on the boat on & couldn't hear her. It seems Clem (Mima's dog) started to chase a goat & ran away from them. They could hear her but were on top of a ridge. They could see her so were afraid if they came down they would no longer be able to see her. They wanted us to get Tom & have him go find her. We got dressed quickly but I couldn't locate our shoes too fast. We drove Tom over into the next anchorage & he went to get her while we waited in the dinghy. Thankfully, we had taken the handheld radio with us but we only had one radio & should have thought to give it to Tom. All of us were not really thinking clearly. We told Steph we were going back for our shoes & we did. Larry stayed with the dinghy while I waded through the yucky swamp water to find Tom & Clem. Luckily, Dave & Steph got Clem. Now we only needed to get Tom. I walked for a while & tried to climb a small hill but kept sliding back with my reef runners. They have no traction & are not made to climb up hills. I went back to the dinghy thinking Tom might have gotten around me but he wasn't there. I told Larry what happened & went back to find Tom. Luckily, he was on his way back so I found him. We got back to the boat around 10am & I went to lay down with my migraine headache. Steph & Dave wound up coming down the mountain the hard way & Steph cut her foot really badly in the mangroves. It was definitely an adventuresome day & it was only 10am! I took a nap for a while & then made some bacon & eggs. I updated the financials. We went to Mima for dinner. I offered to cook since Steph hurt herself but Tom cooked for us all instead. After dinner, we played guitar & sang. A very nice day but not relaxing at all! |